Wonders that words are!
(Scattered and shallow thoughts on our association with words and making a new generation dictionary)
Partha Protim Sarmah*
কিযে তোমাৰ সংগপ্ৰিয়া…
Playing with words myself and, more often, eagerly watching how others perform in that game, has been a favourite amusement that I (like many others) have engaged myself in since my childhood. One wonder that kept me captivated for quite sometime during childhood was how do the words ‘enter’ the mind of a child. Once I asked an elder to tell me the ‘secret’ they used to put the words in the mind (read brain)!!! We take food and the body grows. Do we do something similar or have something inside that enables the brain to cultivate and grow words???!!! How do we, as children, manage to learn word meanings and ‘play’ with them successfully and manage many of the secrets related to words which often remain untaught? Otherwise won’t we invite the danger of becoming another Supandi (who appeared in the child magazine Tinkle)? For him most of the problems were created because of his inability to decipher the implied meanings of the words in their right context, i.e. taking them too literally—surely a case of being unable to understand the game of language and play with words.
Accepting words as a sweetheart at an early stage of life and some romantic engagement/involvement with it make good sense for cognitive development of a child. It enhances conceptual clarity and sharpens imagination.
শব্দৰ চুপটি
As I began to crawl towards some understanding of the world around through books, listening to music and stories, I was introduced to the wonderful possibilities and mysteries words could create. Words for me were (true even if I use the present tense) literally something mysterious—starting from the sound meaning correspondence to all that they can create. I was preoccupied with then answerless questions like how do words create meanings, and how do we understand them, how and why words behave in different ways in different contexts, what does a name do (especially when the name and the thing it refers to do not match—I began asking that with reference to the place I belong to- Gelapukhuri which literally means a dirty, rotten pond though that pond in reality is– a non existent and everybody in the town (including my two co-editors of this newsletter) would (hopefully) say that it is the most beautiful locality in Tinsukia! Much later I came to know those famous lines from Romeo and Juliet:
What is in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet…
So is my Gelapukhuri!.
If a name does not mean what it suggests, what is it for? Why are some words similar but convey different meanings (and confuse us, at times even makes life difficult)? For example till I joined the law university I never knew that ‘battery’ is not simply something you could have for you torch or car, but if you are angry, you can even commit a battery (that too with a battery if it is big enough)! What makes different types of word (read as parts of speech) though all are words? For example, a sentence like: ‘Since there is no time like the present, she thought it was time to present the present.’ How do words from other language occupy a place in my language and why aren’t– thrown out? Then, as I started learning English and Hindi in class five, how do we learn a foreign language? Why were there different words in different languages for the same ‘thing’? ( The concept of the abstract notion of ‘idea’ in similar situation was yet to strike me). Why should we at all learn a language that is not our? Why grammar? And why does it often ‘misbehave’ become so naughty at times? What about pronunciation? For example, how does a new learner of English read: “If you have a rough cough, climbing can be tough when going through the bough on a tree!” So on and so forth. For me at that time language and all that language meant was words and all the amusement and troubles words create.
‘…ৰাংঢালী ছোৱালী মহিমা বুজাকে টান…গাভৰু ছোৱালী চঞ্ছলা নাই তোৰ মান…’
In my primary school days I attended a weekly class to learn how to play tabla. One day a relative played with words and asked:
‘তই ভাল তবলা বজাৱ নে তবলা ভাল বজাৱ?’
(whether I play a pair of good tabla or I play tabla well)—the same word
ভাল,
but when placed in two different positions behaves differently and creates two altogether different meanings. Then come puns and other ambiguities-both lexical and syntactic. For example, what does this, I quote a famous sentence, mean—“Flying planes can be dangerous”? Or, what about this: ”There is some problem with the chair!” My experience in a law university is introducing me to crude lessons on this game of interpretations and more often misinterpretation of law. The same law or rule can mean different and be applied differently (for the benefit of some). All that one needs is the skill to interpret those words in his/her own favour and convince others that ‘yes, this is the meaning of these words. Language is a very tricky game, possibly the trickiest. Like that ‘dream girl’(remember the song?) it constantly teases its users.
How does a dictionary enable or guide a new learner of a language to take care of such varied connotations. How does a child begin his/her initial gymnastics with various and subtle layers of meanings at times a single word can evoke in different contexts? I still remember an example of this type my father gave me and, which I believe, was my first conscious training on words in their contextual meaning or language in context. When once I unintentionally ‘misused’ a word and it seriously offended an elder, my father later opened one secret for me. He asked ‘What does the word (or the sentence)
‘বহিছে?’
(sitting?) mean?’ My clear answer was asking somebody whether s/he was sitting/resting somewhere. What I learnt then from him, apart from what I said, were some more senses that the particular utterance may create: (i) it may be a word to initiate a dialogue or to say hello as you pass by (after all you know s/he is sitting, so why else should you ask that at all?) (ii) If the person is employed, it may just mean he is sitting and relaxing but if s/he is an unemployed youth trying for a job, it may (remotely) be a(n unintended) teasing comment meaning
বহিয়েই আছনে বা বহিয়েই থাকিবিনে? অৰ্থাৎ চাকৰি পোৱাই নাই নেকি? অথবা কাম বন নাই হবলা! কাম বন একো এডালটো কৰিব নোৱাৰই!
i.e. his/her inability to do something and earn. (iii) if it uttered to a retired old man for him it may be a comment on that he is becoming unfit for earning and so on.( similar to what sometimes people say in the sense
বহুদিন কাম বন নাই, এনেয়েই বহি আছোঁ বা বাছ খন অসম বন্ধৰ বাবে বহি আছে৷
All these may be quite unintentional and the statement may be purely innocent with an intention to convey meaning (i) but the other person may interpret it in different ways according a particular context. So an apparently innocent, plain statement may at times be disturbing and hence the need for a careful use and selection of words. In what way(s) a dictionary can help its users in training him for such situations? Of course these possible interpretations are very context specific and impossible for any dictionary to record all such possible utterances and their (im)probable meanings. But that should not discourage the compilers of an online dictionary even to initiate something in that direction i.e. occasionally adding some signposts that help the (learner) user navigate his journey with language.
Who is the target language user (TLU)? I mean who does the dictionary address which level of users, which age group, what maturity level? Again who is the learner—a young native speaker of a language, a young learner of the language from a different linguistic background, or an adult learner of the language who is learning the language as a second/ third or foreign language? Is s/he a beginner or an advanced learner of the language, student or teacher, general reader or an expert of a particular field? The list of such users can be extended.
‘মোৰ কলাশৈলীতে মূৰ্ত হওক এক মধুৰ বৈশিষ্টৰ মান…’
What at XOBDO should concern us as compilers of an online dictionary is the requirement for each category of users with sufficient guidelines. This is different with different expectations and different already existing knowledge of the language he is using/ learning. If , for example, it is used by someone (native/non native speaker) who wants to learn the language, s/he would surely be interested in usages of the words, how are they used in different contexts, exceptions, some guidelines on certain key and confusing areas of grammar, pun and ambiguities (both lexical and structural) and, equally important, how words are misused or wrongly used and so on rather than just get confined to the meanings of words in isolation. In other words s/he would like to have examples in the form of sentences against many crucial entries so that s/he can formulate his/ her own rules on the basis of those provided. These areas certainly call for guidance and help to enable the users to play with words and better word gymnasts!
I often pose and reflect how really useful my entries are for the different categories of reader. If she is new learner (forget the age for the time being) am I making concept clear enough or do I confuse her? Is my description too short so that some vital parts remain untold (and never giving her a chance to know it)? Does that entry need further explanation and examples? (Of course I am lazy enough to provide examples, but that is no excuse for such a responsible task.) Or how will a seasoned user of dictionary—an educated, well informed person—find my entry? Helpful, ok or too childish? For those who are learning Axomiya (may be a native or non native speaker, or somebody from abroad whose parents speak Axomiya,) do we also describe the meanings in Axomiya (a point I recently brought to the attention of our contributors)? Does our entry enable the TLU to recognise the Axomiya (read all other languages in the dictionary other than English) entry as a cognitive whole or it like any other Anglo- English (or any bilingual dictionaries of the type Anglo-X,Y,Z) available around compel him to see a word as a disjointed identity? And does it allow the TLU to understand a word in that language (which yields better fruit at the end) or is he forced to learn the target language through English? The mode I am suggesting helps the TLU develop conceptual integrity of the linguistic units and grasping the essence of a word in that language which further accelerates his learning the target language. We can also think of receiving users’ feedback (though that system at present exists, I do not know how many users take it seriously) At least at the moment we do not have a defined and clear set of target users. Though we can exclude experts of any field as the target users, at times they may also like to use it. It is open for all and hence more challenging for us.
‘ৰূপান্তৰেহে জগত ধুনীয়া কৰে…’
What I suggest is, to use a technical tem, a dictionary for productive comprehension. To cater these needs we need to move from a purely lexicographical mode to something that is lexicogrammatical in nature with heuristic viability or at least (initially) closer to it. That is from a general bilingual dictionary XOBDO will move towards a dictionary with sufficient explanations and illustrations on various linguistic aspects such as grammar along with issues like literal and implied meanings, usage, grammaticality vs. acceptability, collocations, idioms, ambiguities and so on in all the languages. Look at these examples:
(A) মাইকী, নিগনি, বাঘ.
Apart from their literal meanings as woman, mouse and tiger they have also extended/attributive meanings which are literally different from their original meanings.
(B) গুৰু, শিক্ষক, ছাৰ and মাষ্টৰ-
all refer to teacher. But do they imply the same meaning always? People usually do not say
শিক্ষকটো or গুৰুটো but often say মাষ্টৰটো. Again মৰিল and মৃত্যু হ’ল
refer to die. But will the dictionary guide a learner not say
ছাগলীজনীৰ মৃত্যু হ’ল বা ছাগলীজনী ঢুকাল but ছাগলীজনী মৰিল and to say ককা ঢুকাল but সেই ডকাইতটো মৰিল? Whether we will say মন্ত্ৰীজন ঢুকাল or মন্ত্ৰীটো মৰিল
may be at one level beyond a dictionary guidance but still it can guide us for such situations with notes and while guiding us how and where to use
জন, জনা and টো.
(C ) তোমাক মায়ে মাতিছে and তোমাক মায়েৰাই মাতিছে:
The first is grammatically unacceptable but more in use while the second is a grammatically perfect sentence but not many people use it (or similar constructions). Again look at the following sentences:
(D) (i)চুলি কাটিবলৈ যাওঁ, (ii) চুলি কটোৱাবলৈ যাওঁ.
While D(i) means to go to ‘cut’ the hair of somebody else, (ii) means to go to have a hair cut. In most day to day conversation we use (i) for both though for the second meaning (i) is wrong. Can’t we have notes on such cases, usage and others in the dictionary?
(E) ‘যেনিয়ে চকু যায় তেনিয়ে থমকি ৰয়,
নেচাবৰ মন নাই কাকো…’
What does ‘নেচাবৰ মন নাই কাকো’ here mean? Some guidelines for this kind of pleasingly unusual sentences may be of immense help for a learner not only to learn but also to feel the language and gives the dictionary the status of a classic.
(F) (i) “I run everyday. (ii) I run a shop/business”
Here, in E (i) the verb is intransitive while in E (ii) it is transitive. Thus when we enter the word run we may not leave it just mentioning its POS but will provide examples of both the uses to make the concept clear. But more than that what do we do for that in Axomiya? Run in these cases can have three corresponding entries in Axomiya: (a) দৌৰ as in মই সদায় দৌৰোঁ, (b) চলা as in মই এখন দোকান চলাওঁ and (c) কৰ as in মই ব্যৱসায় কৰোঁ. But চলা and কৰ also have other literal equivalents in English viz. ‘do’ and ‘drive’. In the other language those words may exhibit some new qualities. In that case how do we take care of all these in the new format? Again not many people these days ‘study’ grammar especially in regional languages. So a ‘simplified’ transformation of grammatical rules will be handy and quite meaningful for a the dictionary user if s/he gets them while learning words and meaning. I am suggesting here a new design dictionary that can take care of both the crucial aspects simultaneously. Surely, a challenge left for my engineer friends to enable the system to accommodate these (and make the lives of the contributors and editors little more difficult).
Most of the bilingual dictionaries around the world are bilingual in a very narrow, restricted sense—the bilingual endeavour ends with just providing words conveying (closely) equivalent meaning in the target language (TL), thus providing no, or if we are very liberal, a minimal scope for understanding the meaning of TL word in the language and very nuances of words. I, however, understand that it is extremely difficult for a printed dictionary to serve this need, if not for anything else then for the cost and size. So the only option left is an online dictionary or dictionaries in CD form.
If in XOBDO we can move towards this direction (we are already doing it, but still in the first gear) it will, to the best of my knowledge, will be one of the forerunners of this endeavour in the bilingual dictionary enterprise in the world. I am confident that with all the technical advantages that an online dictionary can have and the group of committed and competent contributors, always pushed by a equally dedicated and brilliant group of engineers who take care of the technological aspects of the dictionary to make it constantly updated and state of the art, we can reach the goal in this direction.
It is quite good that our dictionary comes with guide to pronunciation through phonetic transcription of every word (the process still continues). It is surely a help for many. However, still we have some miles to go in this front. Recently I asked some of my students and colleagues from different linguistic backgrounds ( they are not learning Assamese, but I chose them in random to test the effectiveness of the system and to see where we need to improve more) to look at some of the transcriptions available there (and some more I did for that purpose) and utter the words. Result: a mixture of inspiration and clues for further modification to make it more useful. For example, how to pronounce ৰ in কৰ and কৰক? Many of them confuse শ/ স/ ষ with হ/ চ/ চ্ছ/ শ্ব as in cases like শৰাই which often becomes চৰাই or হৰাই Axom/Ahom etc. It will be very useful if we can do something like whenever a word is searched the user can listen to the pronunciation by a simple click somewhere near the main entry- a challenge left to our engineer friends to develop a system suitable for it and to those who have good pronunciation to record their voice. Even many native speakers of Axomiya now pronounce many words in wrong ways. Thus শিৱসাগৰ becomes চিবচাগৰ or শ্বিবচাগৰ even at Sivasagar, তোমাৰ is often তুমাৰ, শৰ্মা and শইকীয়া are now চৰ্মা/শ্বৰ্মা or চইকীয়া/ শ্বইকীয়া .The native sounds of many such words are disappearing. This guide can surely guide at least those who prefer to use it. আছোঁ becomes আছো or আছু; কলোঁ becomes কলো or কলু. Such examples abound. Of course any language is destined to change. But question here is whether these changes are a natural process or a result of mistakes willingly made and ‘varieties’ added even by the native speakers.
The greatest inspiration for and from XOBDO is its intrinsic ability to get it modified and updated very frequently and not only that, to widen its scope to serve different levels and categories of users.
PS. As I was finishing jotting down these shallow and scattered thoughts, I asked one of my friends in the University to have a look at them and comment. She said “…,but how feasible it is to transfer your ideas to reality.” I felt like reciting for her ‘নতুন পুৰুষ, নতুন পুৰুষ or ‘তুমি নতুন পুৰুষ,তুমি নতুন নাৰী’ but I didn’t. Another trick that words play prohibited me!
(I wish to thank Prof. R.Amritavalli and Dr. Shruti Sircar, both from EFLU (formerly CIEFL), Hyderabad, for some insights I gained from them some years back; Jyotiprasad Agrawal and Dr. Bhupen Hazarika for those wonderful lines which I freely quoted here. Usual disclaimers apply! )
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The author is an Assistant Professor of English, Centre for Law, Language and Culture at National Law Institute University, Bhopal, India. He serves as an Editor (English-Assamese) of XOBDO
